School District (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

New Search

vv0 ©I MEMORANDUM Lane TO: Citizens of Lane County County Lane County Board of Commissioners FROM: Bill Van Vactor, Lane County Administrator _ David Garnick, Senior Management Analyst SUBJECT: Secure Rural Schools and Community Self- Determination Act of 2000 DATE: November 30, 2000 WP ca/vv /00035/T Lane County government is very fortunate to receive additional funding because of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self - Determination Act of 2000. We sincerely thank the Oregon congressional delegation for its hard work in securing these funds. While this act will indeed provide a degree of financial stability for Lane County, it does not come close to addressing all the needs of our citizens and county government. In the context of Lane County government's overall financial condition, the act should be viewed as a funding source that restores lost funds and provides funding to maintain existing service levels. We must keep in mind Lane County government has before it significant financial issues. Four of these issues are: 1. Lane County government is unable to operate two capital facilities at full capacity. The Forest Work Camp operates at 25 percent capacity (30 out of a possible 120 beds) and the Juvenile Justice Center operates at one -third capacity (36 out of 96 beds). Both these items were in the levy proposals that were defeated in the fall. The need to provide these services continues. 2. Lane County government is determining the financial consequences of Ballot Measure 7 , We are busy adopting a process ordinance so the measure can be carried out. We are well aware that the fiscal impact statement that accompanied this ballot measure showed a very significant - -if not huge -- financial impact to .local governments. As we work with Ballot Measure 7 and get a better understanding of what it means, we will better able to address the financial impact. However, at the present time, we need to be prudent. 3. The third major financial cloud in our future is our financial obligation to the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). Lane County's current unfunded liability exceeds $40 million. The way PERS operates is to charge the employer more money to recover this unfunded liability over time. The current rate is 13.16 percent with em- ployees picking up an additional 6 percent. We are, at this writing, awaiting the valuation that was due in October 2000, which will be applicable for the next two years. Early estimates are that the cost for this program will continue to rise.